The 17-year-old Afghan refugee who seriously injured four tourists after going on a rampage Monday in Germany armed with an ax and knife on a train was an ISIL “fighter,” according to an agency linked to the group, AP reports.
“The perpetrator of the stabbing attack in Germany was one of the fighters of the Islamic State,” the ISIL-affiliated Amaq news agency said.
Authorities said Tuesday the attack was likely an act of Islamist terrorism.
“It is quite probable that this was an Islamist attack,” a Bavarian interior ministry spokesperson said. The spokesperson said the assailant had shouted “Allahu akbar,” which means “God is [the] greatest” in Arabic during the attack, AFP reports.
Joachim Herrmann, Bavaria’s interior minister, said the assailant had arrived in Germany as an unaccompanied minor and was not previously known to police. He had initially lived in a shelter, then with a foster family.
Authorities investigating the incident found a hand-painted ISIL flag among the assailant’s belongings.
Four members of the same family visiting Germany from Hong Kong were injured in the attack on a regional train near the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg.
The refugee, who has not yet been named by authorities, was shot and killed by police.